New Delhi, May 13 : The first community dialogue for better understanding issues faced by north-eastern residents in Delhi took place on Monday at Humayunpur, Safdarjung Enclave. The north-eastern residents have complained that their neighbours have installed cameras in front of their houses, which is interfering with their privacy.

The Northeast residents of Delhi were accused of wearing short clothes, drinking and dancing till late night by their neighbours in the three urban villages of Safdarjung area.

Over 100 people took part in the meeting, including natives of the Northeast, residents welfare association members, Delhi police, Northeast India Forum Against Racism (NEIFAR) and Aman Biradari.

“The meeting was held to improve communication between communities. The major problem, which north-easterns are facing, is the sudden rent hikes. People have complaints that their landlords have been raising the rent suddenly and if they refuse to pay the asked amount then they have been thrown out of their houses,” said Binalakshmi Nepram, social activist who organised the meet.

“There were some complaints that people have installed CCTV cameras to keep a tab on people from Northeast living in some of the areas which is a breach of the privacy. The north-eastern residents were also accused of roaming around with Africans. We tried making people understand that we shouldn’t have issues in mingling with people from different countries and states,” added Ms Nepram.

The organisers tried to make the local residents understand that wearing short clothes is common all over the world then why to target north-easterns. “As far as drinking and dancing late night is concern, we have asked Northeast residents not to make any nuisance after the official 10 pm deadline,” said Ms Nepram.

More such meets will be taking place in the city to decrease the communication gap between the communities.

North East student Attacked

A 19-year-old Manipuri boy was attacked with a pointed weapon during a robbery attempt in north district’s Mukherjee Nagar on Sunday night.

According to the police, the victim, identified as Chamapani, had gone to meet one of his friends in North Campus at about 11.30 pm Saturday when at least three unidentified assailants grabbed him. When he resisted, one of them stabbed him on the head with a pointed object.